Abstracts
Abstract
Universities depend on committed efforts of all staff members to function effectively. However, where occupational demands outweigh occupational resources, challenging work becomes stressful, followed by an exhausted, disengaged workforce. It is unlikely that disengaged university staff will provide adequate care and service to geographically distant and psychologically isolated learners. As students rely heavily on the support of both administrative staff, as well as academic staff, to manage their learning experience, the work stress experienced by both groups deserves research attention. This study employed a comparative mixed method design, including administrative and academic staff from an Open Distance Learning university in South Africa using the Job Demands-Resources measurement instrument. Findings established from 294 university staff members elucidated staff members’ experience of work stress within a mega-distance learning university in the developing world. Mindfulness about the stressors that influence university personnel can inform strategic interventions required to alleviate distress for each employment category.
Keywords:
- academics,
- administrative staff,
- distance learning university,
- job demands-resources (JDR) model,
- occupational stress
Appendices
Bibliography
- Ablanedo-Rosas, J. H., Blevins, R. C., Gao, H., Teng, W., & White, J. (2011). The impact of occupational stress on academic and administrative staff, and on students: An empirical case analysis. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33(5), 553-564.
- Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., De Boer, E., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2003). Job demands and job resources as predictors of absence duration and frequency. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 62, 341-356.
- Barbour, R. S. (2001). Checklists for improving rigour in qualitative research: a case of the tail wagging the dog? British Medical Journal, 322, 1115-1117.
- Barkhuizen, N. E., & Rothmann, S. (2005). Occupational stress of academic staff in South African higher education institutions. South African journal of psychology, 28(2). doi: 10.1177/008124630803800205
- Brough, P., Dollard, M. F., & Tuckey, M. R.. (2014). Theory and methods to prevent and manage occupational stress: Innovations from around the globe. International Journal of Stress Management, 21(1), 1-6. doi: 10.1037/a0035903
- Catano, V., Francis, L., Haines, T., Kirpalani, H., Shannon, H., Stringer, B., & Lozanzki, L. (2010). Occupational stress in Canadian universities: A national survey. International Journal of Stress Management, 17(3), 232-258. doi: 10.1037/a0018582
- Chaudhry, A. Q. (2012a). The relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction: the case of Pakistani universities. International Education Studies, 5(3), 212-221.
- Chaudhry, A. Q. (2012b). An analysis of relationship between occupational stress and demographics in universities: the case of Pakistan. Bulletin of Education and Research, 34(2), 1-18.
- Coetzee, S. E., & Rothmann, S. (2005). Occupational stress, organisational commitment and ill-health of employees at a higher education institution in South Africa. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 31(1), 47-54.
- Courtney, K. (2013). Adapting Higher Education through changes in academic work. Higher Education Quarterly, 67(1): 40-55.
- Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Geurts, S. A. E., & Taris, T. W. (2009). Daily recovery from work-related effort during non-work time. Research in Occupational Stress and Well-being, 7, 85-123.
- Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Shaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499-512.
- Gill, J. (2009, April 9). By the role divided. Times Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/by-the-role-divided/406078.article
- Giorgi, G. (2012). Workplace bullying in academia creates a negative work environment: An Italian study. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 24, 261-275.
- Grant, G. F., Ali, E. A., Thorsen, E. J., Dei, G. J., Thorsen, E. J., & Kathryn, L. (1995). Occupational stress among Canadian College Educator: A review of the literature. College Quarterly, 3(2), 102-108.
- Höbfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513-524.
- Höbfoll, S. E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested-self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology, 50(3), 337-421.
- Höbfoll, S. E. (2002). Social and psychological resources and adaptation. Review of General Psychology, 6(4), 307-324.
- Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288.
- Jackson, L., & Rothmann, S. (2006). Occupational stress, organisational commitment, and ill-health of educators in the North West Province. South African Journal of Education, 26(1), 75-95.
- Jahanzeb, H. (2010). The impact of job stress on job satisfaction among academic faculty of a mega distance learning institution in Pakistan. A case study of Allama Iqbal Open University. Mustang Journal of Business and Ethics, 1, 31-49.
- Krippendorf, K. (2013). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (3rd ed.). The Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. Los Angeles: Sage.
- Kyvik, S. (2013). The academic researcher role: Enhancing expectations and improved performance. Higher Education, 65, 525-538.
- Lentell, H. (2012). Distance learning in British universities: is it possible? Open Learning, 27(1), 23-36.
- Marten, S. (2009). The challenges facing academic staff in UK Universities. Retrieved from http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers-advice/working-in-higher-education/1350/the-challenges-facing-academic-staff-in-uk-universities
- Maslach, C., Shaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397-422.
- Meng, Q., Xu, L., & Xu, X. (2014). Applying game theory to the balance between academic and administrative power in universities. Social Behavior and Personality, 42(6), 913-920.
- Moorhead, G., & Griffin, R. W. (2001). Organizational behaviors managing people and organizations (5th ed.). New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Nicklin, J. M., McNall, L. A., Cerasoli, C. P., Varga, C. M., & McGivney, R. J. (2016). Teaching online: Applying Need-theory to the Work-Family interface. American Journal of Distance Education, 30(3), 167-179. doi: 10.1080/08923647.2016.1187042.
- Ntshoe, I., Higgs, P., Higgs, L. G., & Wolhuter, C. C. (2008). The changing academic profession in higher education and new managerialism and corporatism in South Africa. South African Journal of Higher Education, 22(2), 391-403.
- O'Connor, P., & O'Hagan, C. (2016). Excellence in university academic staff evaluation: A problematic reality? Studies in Higher Education, 41(11), 1943-1957
- Pasca, R., & Wagner, S. L. (2011). Occupational stress in the multicultural workplace. Journal of Immigrant Minority Health, 13(4), 697-705. doi: 10.1007/s10903-011-9457-6.
- Pitman, T. (2010). Perceptions of academics and students as customers: a survey of administrative staff in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 22(2), 165-175.
- Polster, C. (2012). Reconfiguring the academic dance: a critique of faculty's responses to administrative practices in Canadian universities. TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 1(28), 115-141.
- Pon, K., & Lichy, J. (2015). For better or for worse: the changing life of academic staff in French business schools. Journal of Management Development, 34(5), doi: htttp://dx.doi.org//10.1108/JMD-03-2014-0022.
- Qualtrics. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.qualtrics.com
- Rocca, A. D., & Kostanski, M. (2001). Burnout and job satisfaction amongst Victorian, Secondary school teachers: a comparative look at contract and permanent employment. Paper presented at the ATEA conference on Teacher Education: Change of heart, mind and action (pp. 24-26), September, Melbourne, Victoria.
- Rothmann, S., Mostert, K., & Strydom, M. (2006). A psychometric evaluation of the job demands-resources scale in South Africa. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 32(4), 76-86.
- Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Van Rhenen, W. (2009). How changes in job demands and resources predict burnout, work engagement, and sickness absenteeism. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30(7), 893-917.
- Schuldt, B. A., & Totten, J. W. (2008). Technological factors and business faculty stress. Proceedings of the Academy of Information and Management Sciences, 12(1), 13-18.
- Selye, H. (1983). The stress concept: Past, present and future. In C. L. Cooper (Ed.), Stress research: Issues for the eighties (pp. 1-20). New York, NY: John Wiley.
- Siltaloppi, M., Kinnunen, U., & Feldt, T. (2009). Recovery experiences as moderators between psychosocial work characteristics and occupational well-being. Work & Stress, 23(4), 330-348.
- Sun, W., Wu, H., & Wang, L. (2011). Occupational stress and its related factors among university teachers in China. Journal of Occupational Health, 53, 280-286.
- Szekeres, J. (2011). Professional staff carve out a new space. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33(6), 379-691.
- Tagurum, Y. O., Okonoda, K. M., Miner, C. A., Bello, D. A., & Tagurum, D. J. (2017). Effect of technostress on job performance and coping strategies among academic staff of a tertiary institution in north-central Nigeria. International Journal of Biomedical Research, 8(6), 312-319. doi: https://doi.org/10.7439/ijbr
- Teelken, C. (2011). Compliance or pragmatism: How do academics deal with managerialism in higher education? A comparative study in three countries. Studies in Higher Education, 37(3), 271-290.
- Tustin, D. H., Ligthelm, A. A., Martins, J. H., & Van Wyk, H. de J. (2005). Marketing research in practice. Pretoria: Unisa Press.
- Tytherleigh, M. Y., Webb, C., Cooper, C. L., & Ricketts, C. (2007). Occupational stress in UK higher education institutions: a comparative study of all staff categories. Higher Education Research and Development, 24(1), 41-61. doi: 10.1080/0729436052000318569
- UNISA. (2007). Unisa policy on research ethics. Retrieved from http://www.unisa.ac.za/contents/research/docs/ResearchEthicsPolicy_apprvCounc21Sept07.pdf
- Van den Broeck, A., Van Ruysseveldt, J., Vanbelle, E., & De Witte, H. (2013). The job demands-resources model: overview and suggestions for future research. Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology, 1, 83-105. doi: 10.1108/S2046-410X(2013)0000001007
- Wallace, M., & Marchant, T. (2011). Female administrative managers in Australian universities: not male and not academic. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33(6), 567-581.
- Weber, R. P. (1990). Basic content analysis (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
- White, M. D., & Marsh, E. E. (2006). Content analysis: A flexible methodology. Library Trends, 55(1), 22-45.
- World Health Organisation. (2018). Occupational health stress at the workplace. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/occupational_ health/topics/stressatwp/en/
- Ylijoki, O. H., & Ursin, J. (2013). The construction of academic identity in the changes of Finnish higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 38(8), 1135-1149.
- Zhang, L. F. (2012). Personality traits and occupational stress among Chinese academics. Educational Psychology, 32(7), 807-820.